April 5, 2020: Palm Sunday, Passion of the Lord
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As our Jewish sisters and brothers did on the night of the Passover, we might ask ourselves why this week is different from all others. This week is designated as Holy Week, the week in which we celebrate the great events of our salvation and our Passover from death into the glory of new life. It is the most sacred time of the liturgical year. On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the foundational gift of the priesthood of the faithful, the gift and institution of the Eucharist and the gift of the ordained priesthood and diaconate. This is our night of beginning the Easter Triduum and marks the end of our Lenten season.
The following day, Good Friday, we celebrate the enthronement of our Savior on the Cross. His perfect sacrifice lifts us beyond sin and death once and for all. This greatest act of love is freely given as Jesus takes our guilt upon himself and brings us the great blessing of redemption. Like those first Christians, we leave the cross to keep vigil at the tomb.
On Holy Saturday, we celebrate the Great Easter Vigil, the night in which our vigil is brought to completion with the first Eucharist of Easter. We boldly sing and proclaim, “The Lord is risen! It is true! Alleluia!” This is the holiest week of the year and we are forever changed by it.
This year will be quite different for us as we cannot be together to celebrate these great events. We will hopefully be able to livestream these liturgies online and are working toward that goal this week. Please check our website for details. It won’t be the same, but we can unite our hearts in prayer. So how can we celebrate this Holy Week that it might be different? Maybe we could make this a week for a private, personal retreat.
Each day, read one of the Passion Narratives from the Gospels and prayerfully take on the role of one of the characters in it. Reflect on those times we have maybe denied Jesus like Peter or those times we have been faithful like Mary, Mary Magdalen and John. Think about the times we might have betrayed Jesus or run away in fear. Think about those blessed times when we have imitated Jesus and laid down our life for others. Think about those times we have lived our faith with great passion as well as those times we have endured the cross. Think about the new life of Easter.
One special thing we can do and I am asking all parishioners to do this is to commemorate Holy Thursday by sprinkling the front door and lintel of your home with holy water or simply by making the sign of the cross over it, asking God to let this plague pass over us, asking God to keep us safe and healthy. This will remind us of the sprinkling of the lamb’s blood by our ancestors as they prepared for the great Exodus. Though we feel we are in exile, Jesus is still alive in our hearts and our community. He is present. He is risen. He is with us. God bless you this week and have a very happy and blessed Easter. I am grateful for the new life you bring to this parish each and every day. I miss you and I love you. Soon we will be together again.
Fr. Peter